start coming home. I ran smack into the fog and made a wrong turn.'
'What can you tell me about the killer? You're the only one who's seen him.'
'I wish I could tell you more. I never saw his face. He was tall.'
'Tall as in how tall?'
'Over six feet, definitely. Not heavy. He was in good shape. He had dark eyes, too. Deep brown, almost black.'
'Caucasian?'
'Yes.'
'What about the mask?' Maggie pointed two fingers at her eyes. 'One eyehole across both eyes or two separate holes?'
'Just one hole for both eyes. There was no hole for the mouth.'
'So you could see the bridge of his nose, too?'
'I guess so.'
'Did you notice any other distinguishing features? Moles, freckles, scars, that sort of thing? Did you see any hair coming down from his forehead?'
'I'm sorry, it happened too fast. I didn't notice anything.'
'Would you recognize him without the mask if you saw him again?'
Kasey shook her head. 'I don't think so.'
'What else?' Maggie asked.
'That's all I saw.'
'What was he like?'
'I don't understand.'
'How did he behave? Was he scared? We need to get inside this guy's head.'
Kasey scrunched her pale lips together. Her chest swelled as she took a deep breath. 'He wasn't scared,' she said.
'No?'
'No, he was aggressive. Confident. When I looked at him through the car window, it was like he was smiling at me. Then later, by the dairy, he laughed. He didn't think I would shoot. He was sure of himself.'
'He spoke to you?' Maggie asked.
'Yeah, he did.'
'What did he say?'
'He said he would let the woman go if I dropped the gun. And he taunted me, you know, that I wouldn't shoot because I might hit her.'
'Describe his voice,' Maggie said.
'Uh, it was cocky. Arrogant.'
'Did he have any kind of accent? Was there anything distinguishing about his speech pattern?'
'No. Nothing like that.'
'Would you recognize his voice if you heard it again?'
'I might,' Kasey told her. 'Yeah, I think I probably would.'
'That's excellent.' Maggie squeezed the young cop's shoulder. She could see Kasey's eyes blinking shut. 'Listen, why don't you go home now? Get some sleep.'
Maggie turned away, but Kasey grabbed her forearm. 'Sergeant? There's something else. I want to get in on this case.'
'What do you mean?'
'I want to help on the investigation.'
'I appreciate the offer, but this isn't your beat,' Maggie replied.
'I know that, but this guy murdered that woman right in front of my eyes.'
Maggie crouched down. Kasey stared back at her with fierce blue eyes. The cop's wet red hair was a curly mess on her head. She was definitely young. Way too young. Maggie had worked with cops like Kasey for years; they were full of enthusiasm, but they made immature mistakes. You had to take the bad with the good.
'Are you married, Kasey?' she asked.
'Yes.'
'What's your husband like?'
Kasey smiled. 'Oh, Bruce is a big bear of a guy. Looks like a blond lumberjack.'
'What does he do?'
'Right now? He's not working. We moved here when Bruce got a job in Two Harbors, but he got laid off. So mostly he does conspiracy research. That's his hobby.'
'What, like aliens shot down the space shuttle?'
'It's mostly who shot JFK,' Kasey said. 'Bruce is like a cousin of a cousin of a cousin of a cousin. He takes it personally.'
'Do you have kids?' Maggie asked.
Kasey nodded and held up one finger. 'Jack.'
'Jack Kennedy?'
'It was Bruce's idea.'
'Well, good for you. You've got a family. Don't let what happened here tonight get in the way.'
'What do you mean?'
'I mean, let it go. You stumbled into the middle of something horrible, and you did your best to stop it. Go back to your life, and let us take it the rest of the way.'
'I really want to help,' Kasey insisted. 'Whatever it is, even if it's gopher shit, I want to be part of the investigation.'
Maggie stood up and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. A cough rattled in her throat. 'Look, I've got to meet with Troy Grange tomorrow. He's the husband of the second victim, and he's a friend of mine. I need to talk to him about what happened here. Why don't you come with me?'
'Really? Yes, absolutely. Thank you.'
'It won't be easy, Kasey. Before tonight, we didn't know what this son of a bitch was up to, but now we have a body. No matter what we tell him, Troy Grange is going to realize that his wife is probably dead. There's nothing harder than that.'
'I understand. I really appreciate it.'
Maggie patted Kasey's knee. 'Go home, go to sleep.'
'I will.'
'One last question.'
'What is it?' Kasey asked.
'How do you get your hair that color? What do you use?'
'It's natural.'
'I'll be damned,' Maggie said.
Chapter Five
Serena Dial walked down Chisholm Trail from the highway toward the Glenn estate on Friday afternoon. The street was unnaturally dark. Light didn't easily penetrate the wooded lots of the lake homes, and the fall sky was a bed of charcoal. She smelled snow in the cold air and heard the honking of geese overhead flying southward. The dead street around her spoke to the waning season. Carved jack-o-lanterns grew moldy and soft on porch railings. The trees were mostly bare.
She imagined the same street at midnight the previous day. In the fog. In the dark. Stride was right;
